Prosecutor: Man thought gun empty

Wednesday

Oct 31, 2007 at 12:02 AMOct 31, 2007 at 7:40 AM

STOCKTON - A 22-year-old Stockton man told investigators he was showing his younger cousin how to handle a .38-caliber handgun when he put it to the boy's head and pulled the trigger, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - A 22-year-old Stockton man told investigators he was showing his younger cousin how to handle a .38-caliber handgun when he put it to the boy's head and pulled the trigger, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

"He believed it was unloaded," San Joaquin County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Ron Freitas said of Dontay Magee, who was arraigned on charges including involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 10-year-old Devante Ware.

Magee and his 22-year-old girlfriend, Brandy Murray, were watching the boy at a home in the 2000 block of North Funston Avenue on Friday when the shooting occurred. Murray is charged with felony child endangerment and bodily injury of a child.

Arrested Saturday, the pair appeared together Tuesday before San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Richard Vlavianos. Magee shook his head as if denying the charges Vlavianos read out. Murray put her head down and sobbed.

"The child apparently had a fascination with the gun," Freitas said of Ware, who had discovered the gun about one week before the shooting. Relatives of the defendants observed the brief court hearing. Magee's relatives declined to comment.

Vlavianos denied a request by attorney Michael Platt to have Murray released from the San Joaquin County Jail. Vlavianos, rather, reduced her bail from $200,000 to $150,000, but she remained held in custody late Tuesday, according to booking records.

A conviction for involuntary manslaughter has a maximum prison term of four years. Magee has at least one previous felony conviction and was prohibited from possessing firearms because of his criminal record. Magee is ineligible for release on bail.

Magee and Murray are expected to appear in court next on Monday.

A funeral for Devante will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Love Fellowship Baptist Church, 4212 N. Pershing Ave., Stockton. The Devante Ware Trust Fund has been set up at Financial Center Credit Union to help pay for the service and burial.